Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update. For some reason this took me a little longer to write. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to happen, but I figured it out. Thank you all for your great reviews and favourites and follows!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
Lisbon felt very relieved the next morning when she woke up. The gala was over and nothing had gone wrong. There was no work for her to worry about. She could take an extended shower and just lie on the couch until mass.
"You up y-?"
"Ah!" Lisbon squeaked as Jane poked his head into her room. "Jane! Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"
Jane raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. Just wanted to know if you were up and ready to eat. Eggs or pancakes? Either way, I have to go shopping for ingredients. You really should have better food h-"
"Are you really criticizing my eating habits? You walk into my room-"
"Okay." Jane shrugged. "So, you're up. Eggs or pancakes? I'll go shopping while you take a shower."
Lisbon pursed her lips.
"You can't honestly tell me that you don't want breakfast. Or that you want to cook."
"Pancakes." Lisbon answered. "Please."
"Very well, then." Jane nodded. "I'll be back soon." He shut the door to her room and left.
Lisbon sighed heavily and then got out of bed to take a shower and change.
When she was done taking a shower she headed downstairs into the kitchen where Jane was unloading his groceries.
"Blueberries?" Lisbon asked, pulling the item out of one of the bag.
"Blueberry pancakes." Jane grinned at her.
"You really like your blueberries." Lisbon teased.
"What can I say? They're good." Jane smiled at her.
Lisbon just smiled and shook her head, turning the stove on to help get breakfast made.
"So, what time is mass tonight?" Jane asked as they ate their pancakes at the kitchen table.
"Starts at 6." Lisbon answered.
"Should I wear something fancy?"
Lisbon shrugged. "If you want. You don't need a tux or anything, but something nice will do fine."
"We should really go do something before we go to mass." Jane told her.
"Like what?"
"Hmm..." Jane thought. "Maybe a carriage ride. I saw some happening downtown."
Lisbon blushed slightly. "Those are kind of pricey, aren't they?"
Jane shrugged. "I think it would be worth it. It would be fun."
"Sure. If you want." Lisbon nodded.
"You seem hesitant."
"No. It's just...I'm not used to you being so festive and stuff."
"Well, you'll have to get used to it, Teresa." Jane grinned. "You'll be seeing more of it in the coming years."
The corners of Lisbon's lips curled upward slightly at his words. "Why did you suddenly start calling me Teresa instead of Lisbon, anyway?"
"Why not call you Teresa? That's you're name. It's a very nice name."
Lisbon glanced away, shyly. "Yeah, but you started using it all the time...right after you asked me to go with you to the gala."
"So?"
"So, why?"
"Can't a man enjoy being a little bit informal with his friend over the holidays? You can call me Patrick, you know. I'm not stopping you. In fact, I would prefer it, actually."
"What has gotten into you this Christmas?" Lisbon teased.
"The holiday spirit, of course!"
"Yeah, sure. That's it." Lisbon laughed.
-Mentalist-
"You almost ready?" Jane called from the living room later that afternoon. "Much longer and the carriage ride will make us late for mass."
"I'm ready. Jeez, Ja-"
"Patrick." He corrected her, staring a bit at her as she entered the living room. Her hair was long and loose like it had been the night before, but he'd never seen her in a pencil skirt before. This one was black, paired with a dark green silk blouse.
"Patrick." She repeated. "Who knew you were such a nag-y person?" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh, I learned from the best, Teresa." Jane managed to jokingly retort without missing a beat as he forced his brain to start working properly again.
"You taught yourself, then?" Lisbon smirked.
"Oh, haha. So funny, Teresa." Jane said sarcastically as he joined her at the door and they put their shoes on. Well, Lisbon had some boots. Black, knee-high, heeled boots to be more specific.
Jane gave a small whistle. "Where'd those things come from? New?"
"No." Lisbon shrugged, trying not to look so timid. "I got them last year. They were on sale and they were pretty comfortable."
"They're very nice." Jane smiled brightly at her, seeing through her nonchalance. He could see that she had splurged on them and that they made her feel-at the very least-feminine. Comfortable or not.
"Thank you." She nodded.
"No problem. And I have one more thing for you."
"What is it?" Lisbon looked up at him.
He plopped the plush Santa hat on her head. He'd slipped out while Lisbon was getting ready upstairs to get it "That should keep you warm."
Lisbon ran her fingers over the faux fur that rimmed the bottom of the hat. "What about you?"
Jane opened his mouth to say something witty, but realised he had no comeback to that. Why hadn't he bought one for himself? He'd just thought a Santa hat would cheer her up. It hadn't even occurred to him to buy an extra one for himself as well.
"Are yu speechless?" Lisbon teased. "Wow. Wish I knew how to make that happen more often."
"Shush. Now hurry up or we won't be able to do the carriage ride." Jane ushered her out the door.
Lisbon locked the door and followed Jane to his car, getting in when he opened the passenger door for her.
"There's one of the carriages." Lisbon pointed as they passed one of the hoarse drawn carriages on the road.
"Oh, look who's excited." Jane chuckled as he found a parking spot.
"Shut up." Lisbon retorted.
"It's perfectly okay to be excited, Teresa. When was the last time you got to do this kind of thing?" Jane turned and looked at the man taking the money for the carriage rides. "One ride for two." He paid and they waited for the next carriage. It only took a few minutes before one pulled up and let the previous passengers off.
Jane offered his hand to Lisbon and helped her into the carriage and she blushed at the gesture. She was still going to blame it on the slightly nippy weather. They both took a moment to get comfortable in their seats before they told the driver know they were ready and he urged the horses forward slowly.
Jane leaned back, resting his arm on the back of Lisbon's seat.
"Maybe we should have picked up some more treats from Lacy today so we could have something nice to eat after mass." Lisbon thought allowed.
Jane looked at her. "We really should have. Darn. I guess we'll have to find something else to eat then. Maybe we'll get lucky and find an open grocery store on the way to mass. Stop in for a second and grab something."
"That would be nice." Lisbon nodded. The carriage hit a small bump and sent Lisbon into Jane's side with a surprised squeak.
Also surprised, Jane wrapped his arms around her to make sure she didn't fall anywhere else. He laughed. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Lisbon's cheeks reddened as she made herself comfortable, leaning into Jane's side still. For support of course. In case she might fall over again.
"Sorry about that." The carriage driver called back to them. "You both okay?"
"Yeah." Jane and Lisbon chorused together.
They lapsed into silence for a little while, leaning on each other as they watched cars, people and lights go by.
"The decorations are really nice." Jane commented softly.
"They are." Lisbon agreed. "You never got to appreciate them when you're driving."
"I told you would have fun." Jane smiled.
Lisbon hit his chest lightly.
Jane caught her hand and held it, feeling that it was cold because of the current outside temperature. She didn't fight to make him let go. She just let him hold her hand and they fell back in to a comfortable silence until the ride was over.
Jane gave her his hand to help her out of the carriage at the end of the ride and she smiled, taking his hand gratefully. They made their way back to his car.
"Just enough time to make it to mass." Jane told her as he looked at the clock.
"You better not make us late for that Lisbon joked.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Teresa." Jane smiled at her as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking spot.
-Mentalist-
They never got to stop off at a grocery store, but they made it in time to get a decent seat for the Christmas Eve mass.
"So, we're going to be singing?" Jane asked once they were seated.
"Yes."
"Oh, I get to hear you sing." Jane grinned.
"You did not come just to make fun of my singing." Lisbon crossed her arms.
"No, no. Of course not." Jane shook his head. "Hearing you sing is a bonus. I'm sure you have a lovely singing voice."
Lisbon rolled her eyes.
"Oh don't pout, Teresa." Jane put his arm over her shoulders and let her lean more into his side. He brought his lips close to her ear and whispered, "I didn't want you have to feel alone on Christmas. There's no one else that I would rather spend Christmas with than you. I wanted to make this special for you because you're the best partner I could have ever asked for." The intense red hue that Lisbon's cheeks turned gave Jane great satisfaction. She turned her head slightly to look at him and he smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek and his lips lingered there for a moment. Someone behind them cleared there throat, breaking Jane and Lisbon out of their spell.
Mass went well and Lisbon was very happy by the end of it.
"What are we going to have when we get back?" Jane asked, looking over at Lisbon as he drove them back to her place. "We never got to stop at a grocery store."
Lisbon sighed. "We had some blueberries left over from breakfast. We could have those."
"That's true." Jane nodded, glancing over at Lisbon. "Should we watch some more Christmas movies?"
"If you want." Lisbon smiled back at him.
"I would like that very much."
-Mentalist-
"Hm. It looked like a lot more when they were in the container." Lisbon said as she poured the blueberries into a bowl. They had both changed into their pyjamas and were going to watch Christmas movies like they had agreed.
Jane looked at them over her shoulder and laughed. "Oh well. They'll do." He took one from the bowl and popped it in his mouth. "They're still tasty."
"Okay." Lisbon shrugged as she followed him into the living room. The only light came from the lit Christmas tree in the corner.
They both sat down on the couch, Lisbon grabbing the remote after she put the blueberries on the coffee table. After ten minutes of looking, they still couldn't find anything good on TV. With a frustrated huff, Lisbon turned off the TV and put the remote to the side.
"That's disappointing." Jane said, reaching for another blueberry.
"Tell me about it."
"Maybe it's a sign that we should go to bed."
"You that tired?" Lisbon raised a brow.
"Not really, but tomorrow is Christmas. You know, Santa can't do his job if we're awake."
Lisbon just shook her head, smiling slightly.
"It's true." Jane told her.
"Then I guess we'll go to bed. If just to make you feel better that you're helping Santa do his job."
"It would." Jane said.
They picked up their things and put them in the sink before heading upstairs. They stopped in the hallway between Lisbon's room and the guest room.
"Merry Christmas, Teresa."
Lisbon looked up at him and gave him a small smile. She stepped forward and gave him a hug, which he returned fiercely. "Merry Christmas, Patrick."
They stood embracing for a few minutes, neither knew how long. Neither wanting to let go.
"Thank you." Lisbon whispered softly. They pulled apart just enough to look at each other. "It was special. Thank you."
Jane could hear the hitch of breath in her throat. "You're welcome. Anything for you, Teresa. Are you alright?"
Lisbon nodded quickly, trying to step away quickly, but Jane wouldn't let here.
"Teresa. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Lisbon shook her head, wiping at her wet cheeks.
"It's not nothing. Here." He pulled her hands away from her face and rubbed his thumb gently over her cheek. "What's got you so upset suddenly?"
"I'm not upset."
"You're crying."
Lisbon smiled at him. "I'm not sad. I'm just...It's been a while since I've had a really happy Christmas where I-yeah."
"Where you what?"
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing." Jane insisted. "You can tell me."
Lisbon hesitated, biting her lower lip. "It's been a while since I..." She hung her head and mumbled, "since I felt special."
Jane sighed and pulled her into another tight hug. "You are special." He told her. "You're special to lots of people. Especially me."
"Is that why you stayed?" Lisbon asked, pulling away aging to look at him.
"I'll answer that tomorrow." Jane told her, kissing her forehead. "You should go to bed for now. I'll stay with you, if that would make you feel better."
Lisbon looked at her bedroom door and wiped at her cheeks before nodding.
"Okay then." Jane said, letting her enter her room first. They got into bed and Lisbon snuggled against Jane's chest as he held her and ran his fingers through her hair. This was not how he had expected to end the day, and he had a feeling it wasn't what Lisbon expected either. However, he wasn't disappointed. Jane waited until he was sure that Lisbon was a sleep before gently slipping out of the bed and sneaking out of her room.
Author's Note: So that's chapter five! I hope you all enjoyed it! There's one more chapter left everyone! Leave me a review and let me know what you thought! Please and thank you!
